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Places to DINE

Tecate Mexican Restaurant & CantinaTotally taqueria, without excuse, but with all the hallmarks of good dining. Great authentic food, friendly staff who are at play while at work and a experience of both comfort and satisfaction. Try it out.

ShadeOne of the jewels of the Heights. Good food. Good service. Great wine.

PregoPrego. This is a great spot in the Rice Village. One of a few restaurants in Houston that always hits the right note. Houston has a great Italian tradition in restaurants and this one does not disappoint.

Restaurant Philosophy and Science

10/28/2009

There are just so many ways that service can go wrong. Bad service can be created by a bad attitude. Sometimes is the result of inattention. It can be the by-product of a lack of knowledge or a lack of attention. It could be inaccuracy. Or simply bad timing.

There are so many variables.

Ultimately when we receive bad service it is our initial reaction to blame the server. That is, we blame the messenger. But sometimes we must look a bit deeper. Sometimes we should blame the manager.

On several recent dining occasions that has been just the case. Despite having a good-natured, friendly and intelligent server, decisions that were made by management have led to my wife and I being the victims of bad service.

There are a number of ways that management, through it's decisions, can negatively impact service.

The first and most often made blunder is under-staffing. Either on the floor or in the kitchen. Simply put, the manager staffs too few people to deal with the level of business. Usually in an effort to save labor or sometimes due to an under-estimation of expected business, the scheduling manager staffs lightly. This can lead to major problems when more guests show up than expected.

Under-staffing in the kitchen leads to high ticket times because there are not enough people to execute the number of orders being placed. This leads to longer table turns and an increased wait for guests at the door. Under-staffing in the kitchen results in mistakes on orders as personnel are rushed to produce orders and don't take the time to be accurate. It also makes for slippage in presentation as the mindset shifts from get it right to get it done.

On the floor, under-staffing is more obvious. Servers have too many tables to cover which also translates into missed opportunities. When a server has too many tables he or she will be absent for longer periods. Orders take longer to be placed and filled. Drinks go dry. Plates stack up and in the end, the guest is waiting for the waiter instead of the other way around.

Cutting corners can also lead to bad service. There are many ways to cut corners from cutting back on supplies to trying to save on energy bills. In the end, cutting corners is often hurting your business. A very successful restaurant company I used to work for used the mantra, "prepare to be busy." If you don't you are planning for failure.

For example, if a manager orders lightly on food supplies, then the result generally leads to a guest being disappointed when the item is ordered but out of stock, or "86'd." This disappointment is greater than getting an order wrong. When a guest orders something and is told that the restaurant no longer has that item, the negative effect on the guest experience outweighs the financial savings the restaurant might have made.

A great example is boiled crawfish. When in season, people plan their dining around them. When a restaurant runs out two hours before closing, the excuse "We were so busy, we sold out" is more offensive than it is comforting to a guest. He or she feels like the restaurant let them down. Next time he or she will likely go somewhere else.

I have also seen restaurants attempt to cut back by closing sections of tables on slower shifts. In one place I know, the management routinely closes a small section off to one side. They keep the air and the lights off and do not assign a server. Which is fine if it is slow, but when the restaurant gets busy, they seat these tables in order to avoid a wait. The result is seven tables, all seated at once ,in a hot room with no single server responsible for their care. It is a disaster. As a guest, I would rather have stayed home.

Further examples of cutting back can be seen in details of service. When coffee spoons are served with iced tea; when extra lemons are brought on a saucer instead of on a side plate; when salads that are normally served on chilled plates are served on warm plates it is usually the lack of proper supplies that lead to these substitutions.

The only other possible explanation is poor employee education or a lack of attention to detail. Two more signs of bad management.

When I see these things happening it is difficult for me to forgive, because these situations are all completely preventable. A great manager I once worked for said that management is about avoiding fires. Preventing them rather than putting them out. With that in mind, it is hard to excuse these mistakes. Bad service is easy enough to find without the management fostering it.

If a server makes a mistake, I am willing to forgive and forget. It is what it is. But when management is at fault, I'd prefer to spend my money elsewhere.

09/21/2009

Recently, Chron.com posted a piece on the bizarre triangulation of Starbucks locations at the intersection of Shepherd and West Gray. The short video in the piece films locals marveling at the notion that one merchant would open three stores so close together. Imagine three Burger Kings at one intersection. It would be mind-boggling. Well, it would be for a burger joint, but burgers are not coffee.

After viewing the short video, I was more amused than anything. Consumers in the clip ponder aloud over the seemingly inexplicable turn of events, all the while unconsciously sipping their $5 coffees. The plain truth is the if the three stores weren't each doing good business, the Seattle giant would cull one out of the herd. But the apparently baffled public need look no further than into a mirror for the true explanation as it, itself, keeps the registers chiming.

One couple in the clip questions whether all three can possibly survive a year, while in the next moment another customer admits frequenting all three in the same day.

Personally, I have no doubt the trio will continue to flourish. Americans are obsessed with the legal and socially acceptable speed-drug caffeine, so there is absolutely no shortage of demand. And frankly, each of the three locations has its own allure.

If you are traveling North on Shepherd, the location on the SE corner is most easily accessible. If you prefer drive-through service then the choice has to be the NE corner store. And naturally, if you are already inside Barnes&Noble, why on Earth wouldn't you get your coffee there? After all, to Americans, convenience is truly a virtue.

And let us not forget the distinct pull of loyalty. Addicts are loyal folks. I, myself, live closer to the Starbucks at Durham and I-10 East, but routinely drive North to the store on the North Loop East at Nicholson because I feel it is more a apart of the neighborhood. I am loyal, you see. Oh, and it sports a drive through. I am lazy, too.

But the more I think about it, I, as a Heights resident, shouldn't be going to Starbucks at all. By doing so, I am sending my money - a whopping $657.57 so far this year, not including what my wife has spent, which she assures me is much less - to far off Washington state rather than supporting our local merchants and neighbors. Where is the loyalty in that? I need to be going to Waldo's or Cricket's. If more of us were making the same local choices, we wouldn't have to question the cosmic meaning of three separate Starbucks sharing nearly identical addresses.

Old habits die hard is the cliche that comes to mind, but I am also reminded of the timeless Smithereens' lyric, "It is time for us to look for something new..."

09/20/2009

The word tips - as in gratuities - is said to have originated as an acronym for these four words. And withoutquestion, the best way to insure that you receive good service is through tipping. Being generous with regards togratuity will leave an impression on server. And when you return to dine on subsequent visits you will certainly reap the benefits of your unselfishness.

But while the combination of generosity and patronage is the most sound way of insuring the quality of your dining experiences, there are other ways to improve your odds of getting good service.

The key to consistently getting better service is understanding how servers thinks and work.

Servers are busy people with many tasks at hand. Greeting guests, getting drinks, taking orders, running food, etc. In order to better your experience you need your server to consciously prioritize you and your needs above other guests and other tasks.

One way to gain that priority is to mentally engage your server. That is, to make a connection. To draw their interest. Compel your server to care about you, your companions and your experience. Make him want to take care of you. When your server cares, you win.

Getting the waiter to take an interest in you and your party is really as simple as taking an interest in your server. Rather than viewing him or her as a simple conduit for the delivery of food from the kitchen to your table, think of the waiter as a liaison of service. The waiter has a job to do beyond simply taking orders and returning with plates. He or she is your host or hostess for your visit. A diplomat, if you will. Too many diners dismiss their waiters as mere servants. They do this to their own detriment.

Service is a two way street and you often reap what you sow in terms of attitude. Think of The Golden Rule. Be polite. Make eye contact. Say "Hello." Ask your server's name. Listen to the offerings. Don't interrupt. Say "Please" and "Thank you." A bit of common courtesy truly goes a long way.

Remember that you are dependent on your server and that your server can make or break your experience. So show him or her the respect that the responsibility carries.

Show your server that you honestly care about what he is doing, and in turn, he will truly care about the service he gives.

09/07/2009

I suppose this really isn't news to most people. The death knell began tolling long ago. The slow and painful demise of service has been dragging out in America for a generation and a half. So, maybe I am stating the obvious here. But like an addict coming to terms with his addiction, it is not easy to admit. And the reality seems so much more painful when I say it out loud.

I imagine it was inevitable that we would get here. From the installation of the first self-service gas pumps to the ubiquitous self-checkout stands and the automated ticket kiosks at the cinema, anywhere and everywhere labor-saving machines have replaced people as efficiency and profitability have been prioritized over service and the human encounter.

Sadly, it seems the disease afflicting commerce has spread to the remaining human populations in the retail world as the attitude and concern of most service people now echoes that of the impersonal machines. Aside from the obligatory "Hello" and the perfunctory "Goodbye", today you are most unlikely to have any meaningful interaction while shopping or dining in many American businesses.

From floor personnel to the few human cashiers left, it appears in many retail establishments as if the customer is treated more and more as a distraction or burden rather than as the focus. On the sales floor, you usually have to track someone down for any assistance and when you do you will be greeted as if you are interrupting them. At checkout, you often will not be spoken to at all, as employees ramble on with their own personal discussions.

It is the customer who pays the bills, but that seems lost on so many of today's workers.

Recently while shopping at Target, I asked a saleswoman in the electronics department if she could help me find a cashier. To which she simply responded "No" and then walked away. I was stunned and infuriated. When I relayed my experience to someone I was met with disbelief rather than an apology.

At a local Heights eatery last week, my wife and I waited seven long minutes before being greeted by our waiter. When he finally arrived, his first words were not "Hello" or "Welcome", but "You will have to hurry and order because I am really busy." Why we stayed, I am not sure.

The current disposition of many employees makes you wonder how they keep
their jobs, or how they ever found work in the first place. As a service manager myself, I simply cannot fathom allowing these
interactions to occur between my staff and my guests.

Lamentably for consumers, the demeanor of the staff is a reflection of
the mindset of management. Just as a child is a mirror of his parents.

The conventional wisdom among HR types is that you hire for
attitude and train for skill. (You can't coach a smile, after all.) Beyond good hiring, employee development and accountability are tools employers use to uphold the standards of good service and a quality customer experience. But those seem to be forgotten concepts.

Which begs the unfortunate question: Is customer service a dying art or a lost cause?

08/07/2009

I was reading a discussion forum recently, and a poster posed this question: "How do you complain in a restaurant without seeming like a pain?"

Oddly enough, this is not an uncommon question. Many diners, in my experience, would more likely sit quietly displeased than vocalize their feelings. I cannot count the number of times I, as a manager, would realize that something was amiss at a table, ask the guest how their experience was and get a neutral, or even positive, response. I often had to coax the story from a guest as if she was admitting wrongdoing rather than exposing a problem with the store.

The thing that people don't seem to realize is that I want you to complain. Of course that sounds odd and, in fact, I hope that you have no reason to complain. My goal as a manager is to ensure that your dining experience is flawless. From the hostess, to the table, to the food and service. But, when it isn't, I want to know. I need to know.

When there is a problem, please, speak up. Feedback helps a restaurant grow. We use it to improve our food. We use it to teach our staff. We use it to evaluate the experience from the guest's perspective. So silence, in this case, is not golden.

A few tips on how to "talk to the manager."

Don't Complain. Communicate. Don't be intimidated. The truth is, restaurants need your feedback. Positive and negative. It is an important tool. One whose value is impossible to over-state. If you have something to say, don't feel self-conscious about doing so. Communicate. The manager wants to hear it. To her you are a coach, not a complainer.

Speak Up Immediately. If something is not right, tell your waiter right away. The sooner management realizes there is an issue, the faster they can address it. The longer you stew on the problem, the harder it is to turn the situation around.

Don't Take It Personally. Even in great restaurants, things go wrong from time to time. Out of the hundreds of plates that leave a kitchen on a given day, a small percentage will not be perfect. No matter how great the kitchen and the staff. When something goes awry, realize that it is simple chance. You were not chosen. Some guests tend to feel insulted when something is wrong. This attitude makes it difficult to correct the problem and often serves to exacerbate it. Be calm and speak to the manager as an ally rather than making him the object of a tirade.

Satisfaction Is The Goal. Realize that the restaurant wants to make you happy. You have chosen to dine there and getting you in the door is half the battle. The other half is making sure you leave satisfied. Great dining is, after all, the promise of a great restaurant.

Taking the time to talk to the manager lets the restaurant know that you care as much as they do. Which is a quality that sets you apart as a diner. A problem solved can be a great icebreaker. Good restaurants look to cultivate relationships with their patrons and in order to do so, there must be dialog. As is true in any successful relationship, communication is key.

A disgruntled guest is 10 times more likely to share his story than a
satisfied one. But the most powerful ambassador is the guest who has an issue resolved.

05/04/2009

The last restaurant in which I worked was a nice but casual Italian place. The kind with great food and a good wine list where you still felt comfortable taking the kids. Being the general manager, I was pretty familiar to most of the guests and they were to me. I got to know quite a few families and their children and they came to know mine.

One family that came in pretty regularly was a really sweet and bright family with a boy and a girl. The parents were amiable and engaging and they enjoyed good food and wine and liked to talk about such things. The daughter was a sweet girl about babysitting age and the boy, we'll call him JB, was about 10. The kids were both smart and precocious and seemed to enjoy the restaurant as much as their parents. JB was a particular favorite because, as young as he was, he felt right at home going to the bartender to check on sports scores or debate stats.

These folks were super guests for a restaurant to have. They always called ahead for a reservation and were never late. They were constantly bringing new people and showing the place off. On the rare occasion that something was amiss, they would refuse to acknowledge any inconvenience.

I remember one evening they were having dinner with us and as I was leaving the office, I passed JB. This particular evening had been one when a mistake had been made delaying their dinner and I acknowledged this to JB. Right then he turns to me and says, "No big deal. We're not in a hurry. When we come here we're not eating, we're dining."

It was a perfect moment. It was truth. They were not eating, they were dining.

At our restaurant, JB and his family were at home. There was no hurry. They felt no impatience. There was just honesty and closeness among them as they digested the day in conversation. They were not preoccupied with themselves, but were living with each other in the moment. They were sharing more than food. They were sharing family and time.

No, they
did not just eat. They dined.

Eating is about food, but dining is about so much
more. Eating sustains the body, but dining nourishes the mind and soul.

05/01/2009

To the matador "The Moment of Truth" is the crescendo of the match. That moment in time right before the slaying of the bull when the Matador raises his sword and stands victoriously triumphant above the beast.

To the restaurant manager, "The Moment of Truth" is far less romantic, but no less important to a successful performance. In the restaurant, a moment of truth is any moment when a guest will form a reflexive, often subconscious, impression - positive or negative - of the store. This judgment is pass/fail. Either it's good or it's bad. By controlling these moments a restaurant can have a major head start on creating a positive guest impression before food and service are even considered.

For example, when you arrive at the restaurant, is the parking lot clean and landscaped? Is the sidewalk clean of debris or is it littered with trash? Are the front doors clean or are they smudged and dirty? As you walk in is there someone there to greet you? Are they friendly and welcoming? Is the table clean and set properly or does it look like it was just used? Are the menus clean and in good shape or are they worn and dirty? When you open your napkin, is the silver clean and polished? When the server arrives at the table is he or she well groomed? Are the restrooms clean and stocked? (If the restrooms are dirty, so is the kitchen, goes the rule.)

All of these are moments when even the least observant person will form impressions (consciously or subconsciously) for good or bad.

A good management team will recognize and attempt to use these moments to it's advantage.

If the staff is in control of these moments, they may seemingly go by unnoticed to the layman. Just another part of a nice evening out.

But if they are not controlled and well executed by management, if they are moments lost, they will certainly not go by unnoticed by the guest, and may, in fact, pile up into a horrible dining experience.

04/07/2009

In the restaurant world, a world of first impressions and snap judgments, truer words were never spoken. Clothes do make the man (or woman). Or, in this case, the uniform makes the server. And the restaurant.

Uniforms are an extremely important part of the dining experience. They speak volumes about the server and the restaurant. In fact, uniforms tell all.

For the restaurant they represent an idea or philosophy. As Denver restaurant columnist Stacey Brugeman explains, restaurant owners are speaking to their clients through the uniforms of their servers. Upscale restaurants who have their servers wear blue jeans, for example, might be encouraging their guests to relax, to enjoy. Suggesting that dining is a common, comfortable experience. It should not be so pretentious as to require careful dress. By contrast, an Italian corner bistro which uniforms it’s servers in shirts and ties might be paying homage to a tradition of service as a proper profession. The idea being to always be dressed as well as your expected clientele.

Uniforms also tell of the service a server is likely to give. I mean, if he doesn’t care enough about his performance to consider his appearance, how concerned can he really be about his guests? A good server is one who embraces service. A server who embraces service realizes the visual impact that a great uniform has on each table and strives to perfect his appearance. Each new table is like a job interview, although the job is secured, salary is being negotiated in the form of gratuity. A great first impression is key. As a former server myself, I can testify to the impact a great looking uniform has on the tips received, service quality notwithstanding. A simple fact known to all professionals in the service industry. If your server let’s this slide, he’s leaving money on the table. That is a red flag.

About management, uniforms say even more. Simply put, the quality of the staff’s appearance is a direct reflection of the level of commitment management has to the restaurant and to you. Period.

Uniforms are one quality of the atmosphere within a restaurant that can be refreshed each and every day. The staffs’ appearance as a whole, if properly maintained, is a highly effective way to control and enhance both atmosphere and service.

03/31/2009

Candelari’s Pizzeria is moving into the old Paulie's location on Holcombe at Kirby. You might be saying to yourself, "Where?" But, take a moment. I promise, you know the place. This is the southern edge of Rice Village, just west of the Medical Center and east of West University Place. The building is in the Rice Epicurean parking lot, next to Kelsey Seybold. Here

Now, it is not my intention to attempt to cover or follow every restaurant opening and closing in town, but this one interests me because it is a test of my instincts.

You see, I believe this a great location and argued exactly that in the past when my former company was considering expansion.

When I was with my most recent employer he had an opportunity to have this location. About a year ago. He passed. My employer also passed on the old Honey Baked Ham location about a half mile west on Bellaire at Buffalo Speedway. It is in the Randall's parking lot. Vincent Mandola's Pronto Cucinino sits there now.

My wife and I lived in Woodside off Braeswood at the time and I lobbied hard for expansion there. I felt so strongly that had I the means at the time to open my own place, I would have left the company and done so.

There simply aren't enough restaurants in the area. Especially good ones. West U, Bellaire, Rice Village, The Medical Center. They are all right there. Literally. Right there. Homes, hospitals, shopping all potentially feeding the restaurant. The business and residential demographics are amazing. Rice Village is two lights up on Kirby and the restaurant scene there is alive and well.

I do not know what my employer saw at the time that made him hesitate when considering the location or the area. I don’t know what he saw or didn’t see. I do not know the details of the deal that Candelari’s owners Michael May and Greg Wheeler eventually struck to get the property. I do know what was on the table before, but that was then. Most importantly, though, I know what I would have done. And now, Candelari's is doing it.

Today I still see huge upside with this location. More than that, I see a potential gold mine. I believe that Candelari’s owners May and Wheeler see the same thing - and must be bursting with anticipation.

03/24/2009

The second of journalism's five aforementioned "W"'s. What. The simplest answer is the right one, as the rule goes. That answer is, well, a website. A blog, perhaps, is even more simple.

You could call it a guide, I guess. Or a consumer tool, a review site. You can call it an advice column or even a restaurant refugee's journal. A Houston foodie resource sounds good, too. Of course, I hope for all of those things on the most practical and tangible levels. But, truly, I have higher hopes than that.

In truth, I hope to start a dialog. Yes, a dialog. A conversation about food and service and Houston and the things in between. A back and forth between reader and writer. Not a one-sided continuum of Fred-Speak, but a true give and take, an ebb and flow of restaurant and food and service discussion. Not only what makes me tick, but what makes you tick. You ask, I tell. I ask, you tell.

I want this place to crackle, to breathe, to live. Like a restaurant.

A great restaurant is alive. She breathes. She hums. You feel it. As a guest, as an employee, as an owner. A great restaurant has energy and life. She has attitude. She has personality and charisma. That's why we fall in love.

A great restaurant is not only about eating, the practical, but also about food. Food as expression and joy. Truly. Places for meeting and sharing and company. They are about the people you see and know and meet. Restaurants are about service. About feeling special and being remembered. Restaurants are about relationships.

A great restaurant isn't a place where customers come to eat, it is a place where friends come to dine.

That is my goal. To share. To share about service and dining and food and Houston and to create better diners and better dining along the way.

Is that too lofty for a simple restaurant website? No. It isn't.

See, I believe that we love our restaurants. We live in them. We have breakfast. We have lunch. We have dinner. We do business. We do pleasure. We celebrate. Graduations and weddings and birthdays. We get engaged and say goodbyes. We laugh and cry. We live our very lives in these places.